Mahoning Valley Historical Society will present “Yuletide Gift Givers and Punishers” at noon on Thursday, Dec. 15 at the Tyler History Center in downtown Youngstown.

MVHS will feature Christmas historian Dr. George Johnson as part of its Bites and Bits of History lunchtime program.

The presentation will highlight the history of yuletide gift-givers and punishing counterparts like Krampus. The program will explore several European cultures and includes pre-Christian figures.

Johnson has one of the most recognized Christmas collections in the country. He has been featured in Martha Stewart Living, Better Homes and Gardens, Country Living, and several specialty publications.

His collection includes two angels from a German church dating from the late 1700s, Spanish nativity pieces, and a 15th-century bible page that describes the Three Wise Men coming to the manger to see the baby Jesus.

Additionally, Johnson has collected hundreds of German chromolithographs from the 1870s to the 1920s. Chromolithographs use lithographic stones or plates to print color images.

Bites and Bits of History lunchtime programs are presented by the John and Loretta Hynes Foundation.

Tyler History Center